Kamen Rider Cygnus
by Clockwork Warp
Summary: In the far future, a vast coalition of planets finds itself under threat. A new starship is commissioned to explore hitherto unknown regions of space. With the power of cutting edge technology at the helm, its captain becomes Kamen Rider Cygnus to defend the galaxy and defeat the greatest foe ever seen. A Kamen Rider story in a Star Trek-style setting.
1. A Captain's Commission, Part 1

In the somewhat distant future…2183, to be precise…the planet Earth has reached outwards, towards the stars, and found life waiting right on their doorstep. The human race was readily accepted into the intergalactic community, becoming part of the vast League of Planets, an expansive federation that comprised many major worlds. Both friendships and enemies were formed with other races, and one who made it all possible was the legendary human, Nue Kobayashi, captain of the L.E.S. Venture from 2235 to 2246. Kobayashi's highly successful years of command are the stuff of League legend, so much so that a second ship was commissioned, the Venture II. Kobayashi took the helm, but unfortunately passed away before his tour of duty was over. In the years running up to the two hundredth anniversary of Earth's acceptance into the League, a new starship, the Venture III, was commissioned. Under the command of Willis Hawthorn, it has carved itself into the legacy of the name Venture.

* * *

-2381, First Officer's quarters, L.E.S. Venture III-

Commander Genta Ryutaro paced the short distance between the walls in his quarters. He turned over a tiny red box in his hand again and again. The nerves had set in, and there seemed to be no way to quell them this time. He had been waiting for the perfect moment to propose, and this seemed as good a time as any.

The only trouble was knowing what to say. He had gone over a speech he had made up on the fly when he had a moment to himself. It probably wasn't going to do much good for him. He knew how much his lover's species valued words, and he wanted to find the right combination.

Just as he felt his nerves begin to settle down, the voice of his captain rang out through his quarters.

"You're needed on the bridge, commander."

Strangely, Genta breathed a little easier. "On my way." He said, stowing the box inside the pocket of his uniform. Perhaps whatever he was needed for would take his mind off the surprisingly scary prospect of proposing.

He left his quarters and made a beeline for the nearest elevator. As it closed, he saw crewmen stumbling out of their quarters, some of them trying to hurriedly fasten their uniforms up. Genta gave a short laugh as the elevator ascended to the bridge level. It was good to know that he wasn't the only one aboard the Venture who wasn't really paying attention to what was happening.

As the elevator door slid open, Genta made one last adjustment to his uniform's jacket, and stepped out onto the bridge of the League of Planets' flagship. Many of the senior officers were in their usual positions. The ship's tactical officer, Haneth Vek, a humanoid covered in grey scales, stood on a raised part of the bridge behind the captain's chair, which lay smack-bang in the middle. There were other raise parts of the bridge for many of the Venture's other important functions, including sensors and communications. The lower part of the bridge played host to the helm controls and the captain's chair, not to mention Genta's own seat.

"What's the issue?" Genta asked as he took his seat beside Captain Willis Hawthorn. In Genta's mind, Hawthorn was more than a worthy successor to the station of Venture's captain. He managed to balance kindness and compassion with conviction and dedication to his duty.

"We detected an unusual energy signature inside a gas cloud, and we're going to investigate." Hawthorn replied. "Helm, take us in."

"Aye, sir." The bald, yellow-skinned helmsman tapped his computer console a few times, and the dull hum of the Venture's engines grew slightly louder as the ship began to move forward, towards the gas cloud.

"There appears to be a high concentration of Muron gas in that cloud." Came the shrill voice of Jorge Magnussen, the diminutive human science officer.

"Go to yellow alert, then, and keep medical teams on standby." Genta suggested, just as Captain Hawthorn was about to open his mouth, presumably to give the same order. Muron gas was incredibly volatile, and just one stray photon burst could cause it to ignite and bring a quick end to the Venture's career.

"We're heading into the cloud." The helmsman said. "The energy signature's approximately forty thousand kilometres ahead."

"Raise shields." Hawthorn said, looking down at the arm of the captain's chair, and checking a status monitor. "Bring the gas cloud up on the main viewscreen."

At his command, the interior of the gas cloud appeared in front of them. Genta felt his mouth fall open in complete surprise. It was beautiful. Swirls of colour glanced briefly in front of the screen, and then vanished, only to be replaced by different colours and patterns. Genta couldn't help but feel enchanted by the wonderful view.

Unfortunately, his feeling of enchantment was cut off by the sensors console bleeping. The officer in charge of it checked the cause of the sound.

"The energy signature is closing in on us." She said, keeping a level head. "Thirty thousand kilometres…twenty thousand…I'm getting a clear reading." She tapped her console some more. "It's a vessel, and it's still closing." Her console bleeped again, and her silver eyes quickly shifted to it. "It's within visual range."

"On screen." Captain Hawthorn commanded, a sense of urgency in his tone of voice. As the image of the vessel sprung up on the main viewscreen, Hawthorn clapped a hand over his mouth, presumably to stop himself from swearing. Genta could only gaze at the approaching ship as it slowly tore through the gas as if it were a mere sheet of paper.

The vessel in question was gigantic. According to a tactical scan of the ship, it was two thousand kilometres in length and seven hundred kilometres in height. It easily dwarfed the Venture, which was only four hundred kilometres long. Immediately, Genta felt somewhat small and insignificant compared to the might of that vessel. It was shaped strangely, too. It looked like some kind of mechanical shark, with a tail-like appendage at the aft of the ship, and what seemed to be a giant mechanical maw of teeth at the fore. Further scans of the craft revealed that it outgunned the Venture. Its armament, according to Vek's scans, included fifty eight photon burst cannons, eighty six plasma beam weapons, forty nine torpedo bays, and a series of unidentified weapons on either side of the ship.

"It's a warship of some kind." Hawthorn said slowly, studying the vessel intently.

"How could a warship hide this close to the League's borders without being detected?" Genta asked.

"I don't know." Hawthorn replied. The ship loomed out of the gas cloud and cast a shadow over the Venture, and Genta could see that the "maw" of the ship, so to speak, was lined with plasma cannons. If the crew of that giant ship decided to bring their armaments to bear on the Venture, it would be a safe bet to say that one of the most famous ships in the League fleet would be finished.

"We're being hailed." The Venture's insectoid communications officer said.

"Put it on screen." Hawthorn commanded. The image of the ship vanished, to be replaced with the scowling face of an unknown life-form. It had faint yellow skin, save for some black markings running from the top of the scalp down to the bridge of its nose. A large head of what appeared to be horns jutted out from its forehead, presumably to make it seem much more threatening. In addition, it wore a visor that covered its eyes. However, the crew of the Venture didn't need to see its eyes to know that it was giving them a scathing look.

"You are League of Planets." It said slowly, presumably not breaking eye contact. It was hard to tell when it wore a visor. "We are the Nishian flagship Maloth."

A murmur of discontent ran through the bridge. The League of Planets was aware that the Nishian Dominion was one of the bigger fishes in the galaxy. With more than a thousand star systems to its name, it controlled a vast region of space, and commanded one of the mightiest fighting forces ever recorded. The League had never gone toe-to-toe with them, opting instead for a non-aggression pact. According the latest intelligence reports, however, it was believed that the Nishians had gone to war with another empire. With the sudden appearance of their flagship on the League border, one could only assume that the war had ended, but not in the Nishians' favour.

Captain Hawthorn put on his most determined expression, and stared at the Nishian confidently. "I am Captain Willis Hawthorn of the League starship Venture."

"The Venture." The Nishian captain repeated. "We didn't realise there were any League ships in this sector."

"We detected your ship's energy signature coming from this gas cloud, and were curious." Hawthorn elaborated. "What brings you so close to the border?"

There was something of an uncomfortable pause as the Nishian turned his head to the left and gave a curt nod to another crewman, before returning his attention to Captain Hawthorn. "We're carrying the Masked Lords to a conference on Empiria-9."

That remark made Genta a little more curious. The Masked Lords of the Nishian Dominion were perhaps the most enigmatic creatures known to the League. They operated from the shadows, controlling the actions of the Nishians from the highest tower on Nishan. To be in their presence was a great honour for a Nishian. Yet Genta couldn't help but wonder what such esteemed figures as the Masked Lords were doing in a gas cloud on the border of League space, especially when the Empiria system was in the opposite direction.

"Captain!" The gravelly tone of security chief Vexas Tathor came over the internal communications channel. "We've detected intruders on deck 16! They're heading for engineering!"

Hawthorn looked surprised, and so did Genta, who quickly checked on the status of their shields. They were still up, so how had the intruders managed to get aboard the Venture?

"Get a security team down there!" Genta commanded, rising from his chair. "I'll meet with them!" He noted that Hawthorn didn't tell him to be careful as he entered the elevator and, with a verbal command, descended to the engineering level. He drummed his fingers impatiently on his leg, and silently willed the elevator to go faster. The elevator seemed to read his thoughts, as the door opened and he strode out onto the empty engineering section. It seemed that the engineering staff had taken the time to evacuate. Genta could hear the firing of photon pistols coming from one of the many hallways that criss-crossed the Venture, as well as the militaristic growling of Chief Tathor.

"Report!" Genta said as he approached the security group from behind. He watched armoured and uniformed security officer firing bolts of photonic energy at a pair of creatures that he had never seen before. One appeared to be avian in nature, as it sported dark grey feathers and a lethal-looking beak, while the other looked like a bear. The interesting thing about both of them was that they appeared to be sporting cybernetic enhancements. It seemed sparse on both of them, just a minor ocular implant and some plating over their upper body. Not only that, but they seemed to be resisting the photon pistols.

"These things appeared in one of the storage rooms." Chief Tathor replied, adjusting his own photon pistol. "They attacked a few of the crewmen and then came down here."

"Are the crewmen getting medical attention?" Genta asked, picking up a photon pistol himself.

"They were taken to sickbay." Tathor said. "Set your pistols to the beam setting, and fire at will."

Genta took the words to heed, and took aim at the bird creature. A thin stream of photonic energy lanced out of the end of the pistol, and collided with the creature. It didn't seem to have much effect, not even with the additional firepower of Tathor's weapon. It wasn't until the other security team members fired on the creature that it seemed to have an effect. The creature stopped dead in its tracks, and fell to the floor. Getting the idea, the crewmen turned their weapons on the bear creature and fired. It seemed to have the same effect, and the bear cyborg fell to the floor.

"What are these things?" Genta wondered aloud, kneeling down next to the bird cyborg.

"Dead, I would hope." Tathor replied. Just then, the entire ship rocked violently, throwing Genta against the wall as if he were a ragdoll. The back of his head hurt madly, and his vision became blurred.

"Ryutaro to bridge, report." Genta said groggily as he stumbled to his feet.

"The Nishian ship opened fire on us!" Hawthorn shouted over the glaring of the alarm. "Our shields are down, and we have hull breaches on multiple decks! I need you back on the bridge!"

"I'm on my way!" Genta clumsily strode back down the hallway, throug engineering and into the elevator. As it rose to the bridge, Genta shook his head, if only to regain clarity of vision. The door opened and he returned to his chair. He noticed that Captain Hawthorn was gripping the arms of the captain's seat and looking grim.

"Try hailing them." Genta suggested.

"Already did. They're not responding." Hawthorn replied. "Erect force fields around the hull breaches and seal off the affected sections!"

Genta felt the Venture rock even more as the Nishian vessel fired a constant stream of plasma blasts at it.

"We're not going to be able to hold out much longer!" Genta declared as the bridge rocked. "We have to abandon ship!"

Hawthorn was about to protest, but he hesitated, and then seemed to resign himself to the idea. He tapped a button on the arm of the chair, and addressed every corner of the ship.

"All hands, this is the captain. Make your way to the escape pods and abandon ship. I repeat, abandon ship. Program the pods for a course of 1:3:8, mark 6, and we'll rendezvous in orbit of Riddick-5. There's a League outpost there, and we can signal the nearest ship to collect us. I repeat, head to the escape pods and abandon ship."

As soon as he stopped talking, the bridge crew began to move towards the elevator, until only the helm, Hawthorn and Genta remained, though the helm soon left.

"You should go, Genta!" Hawthorn said, turning to his first officer.

"I'm not leaving without you, sir!" Genta replied as another barrage of plasma rocked the Venture.

"The captain has to go down with the ship!"

"With all due respect, Willis, this is no time for a poetic gesture!" Genta grabbed Hawthorn's arm and had to force the captain out of the seat and drag him to the elevator. At first, Hawthorn resisted, but he soon went along with the idea of getting off the ship alive. The elevator opened on deck 12, where the escape pods were located. Genta and Hawthorn were barely out of the elevator, when thick metal tubes burst through the walls and rammed into the opposite wall.

"The bulkheads are destabilising!" Hawthorn realised. "Back in the elevator! We'll go to the shuttle bay!"

* * *

As the escape pods detached from the Venture, and a lone shuttlecraft launched into the void, the Nishian flagship Maloth began its final assault, firing supercharged plasma at the smaller ship. It was obliterated instantly, going up in a fantastic plume of flames.

The deed was done, and the six Masked Lords of Nishan convened in a darkened room.

"It is done. Venture is no more." One of them said.

"This act was in violation of the non-aggression pact with the League of Planets." Another interjected. "They will want an explanation."

"They cannot know of our cause." A third one responded. "Our work is too important."

"They have revealed a weakness in the Augments." Said a fourth. "We must alert all who utilise them."

"Rejoice, Lords." A fifth Masked Lord spoke. "We have averted the future that will never be. We will remain in power forever."

* * *

Admiral Nikolas Polyokov's eyes passed over the final message from the Venture. It detailed the location of the surviving crew, and a request for aid. He was quick to authorise a rescue mission to Riddick-5, and he had just received word that the mission was successful. He wasn't looking forward to the debriefing.

Yet, it would have to wait, there was another matter he needed to see to.

"Computer, access the file on the Fleet Driver, authorisation Polyokov 3 Delta 21." He said, addressing his desk's inbuilt computer. It responded with an affirmative noise, and a detailed schematic of an unusual machine.


	2. A Captain's Commission, Part 2

-March 14, 2383, Earth Command, Tokyo-

It was the largest gathering of the heads of the League of Planets on Earth since the day the planet was integrated into the coalition. Many of the admirals had showed up, as had a handful of ambassadors from Hain, Voska and Korin, the founding worlds of the League. The surprisingly large number of League officers not on assignment had turned up in white dress uniforms, and were mingling among civilians of various species, but mostly human.

Genta and the remaining crew of the Venture had gathered as well, not only to enjoy the celebrations, but to be honoured by their superiors.

It had certainly taken a while, but Genta had plucked up the courage to propose, and his now-fiancée, Seria Gulan, had accepted. The blue-eyed Voskan woman and former chief engineer of the Venture gazed around the decorated presidio in absolute wonder. Genta couldn't help but smile. He knew the striped human-like species couldn't resist a celebration of any kind.

A drawn out gong-like sound drew the attention of the assembled guests, as the Lord Protector of the League, a blue-skinned Calian by the name of Tos Rannim stepped up to a wooden podium and discreetly shuffled some papers in two of her four hands. Behind her stood a large shape covered with a giant piece of blue cloth.

"Exactly two centuries ago," she began, keeping her eyes on the now silent crowd "my predecessor, the late Shen Ch'Has Gaddiyam, stood on this very spot and formally welcomed the planet Earth into the League of Planets. Of course, I wasn't even born yet, but my grandmother was part of the welcoming committee that landed mere miles from here.

"She was an ambassador for my people, and she would often regale me with the most outlandish stories of her travels to the more outlying systems, and meeting other species. As a matter of fact, she was my inspiration for going into the ambassadorial business. She represented the League on first contact with twenty-seven different species, humans included. That is the reason why we're here today.

"In the past centuries, we have seen Earth achieve many milestones and produce many wonderful examples of the best of the League. Lucent, Kobayashi, Fa-Yun and Hawthorn, just to name a few." At that moment, a few thousand pairs of eyes found their way to Willis Hawthorn, who took a sharp, nervous breath.

"And I am certain that we will see more in the years to come." Rannim continued, drawing the crowd's attention once again. "I would now like to invite the former crew of the L.E.S. Venture III to the podium."

Receiving a sidelong glance from his former captain, Genta and Seria made their way through the crowd and took slow steps up to the podium, where they joined a hastily formed line. Genta took the place directly behind Hawthorn, and Seria took the place behind him.

"This fine crew have honoured the League with their actions." Rannim addressed everyone in attendance. "They have charted new star systems, represented the League on first contact with forty new species…"

"Thirty-eight." Hawthorn silently corrected her. Of course, Rannim didn't hear that.

"…and helped defend the League from its enemies. We honour your contribution to the League with this mark of esteem."

She raised her upper right hand and gestured with one of her three fingers to the well-dressed officers behind her, who pulled the cloth down to reveal bronze statues of all three ships named Venture, sitting on top of metal curves of varying heights. The design of the oblong body with the two curved nacelles extending from the sides had carried over to all three iterations of the craft. The shape had become something of an icon.

"This statue is dedicated to the legacy of not just the Venture, but every League ship and their brave crews." Rannim's eyes kept flickering down to the speech notes on the podium. "Let it mark the beginning of the celebrations of Earth's 200 years in the League of Planets."

A massive roar of approval rose from the crowd as the assembled officers and delegates clapped politely. Rannim smiled and stepped down from the podium. The crowd, once done applauding and cheering, dissipated slowly as the officers and Venture's crew remained, talking among themselves.

"That was a lovely speech." Seria spoke in that soft, calm voice of hers. Voskans prided themselves on their appreciation of the spoken word. Some of the League's greatest politicians were Voskan, because they could find the right combination of words to quell brewing violence or forge an alliance. "Lord Protector Rannim certainly put some time and effort into it. I just hope our guests can come up with something as good as that."

With Seria and Genta's wedding looming on the horizon, Seria was showing signs of what her people called "Than'Chaili", the common Earth translation of which was "perfectionist". Genta couldn't blame her. They had both been under a considerable amount of stress.

"Don't worry about it." Genta smiled, putting his arm around her. "This wedding is going to be perfect. We'll make sure of that."

"Excuse me, Ryutaro, but might I have a moment?" The sharp voice of Admiral Nikolas Polyokov cut through the discussion like an energy scalpel through flesh.

"Admiral." Genta turned to the stout Russian admiral. "Just a moment." He turned back to Seria. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He followed a gesture from Polyokov away from the podium and into a row of high hedges.

* * *

"My congratulations to you on your promotion and impending marriage." Polyokov said in a business-like manner as he walked alongside Genta, hands behind his back.

"Thank you, sir." Genta nodded. "I'm only hoping that I'm as good a husband as I can be."

"You're in good hands." Polyokov replied. "Lieutenant Commander Gulan is certainly capable, if her service record is anything to go by."

"Her service record?" Genta asked.

"Yes, I think she'll make you a fine first officer, especially once you're married."

Genta's mouth fell open in complete and utter shock.

"A…a firs…first officer? You're giving me a command?"

Polyokov nodded. "I'll be honest, Captain, you made a good tactical officer when you served under Admiral Murray on the Hartnell, your engineering skills are sub-par, you're a lousy scientist, and if I'm honest, I'd rather have my five-year-old granddaughter treat my bad leg than you, but you have a head for command, and in light of the Nishian threat, we're going to need people like you in command."

Genta received what he was sure was a compliment with a smile and an appreciative nod. "What ship will I be assigned to?"

"We've decided to give you command of the Cygnus." Polyokov replied. "She'll be a fine ship once she's completed."

"You mean she's not even built yet?"

"We'll send you the schematics and technical data once we've filled out your crew manifest." Polyokov said. "The Cygnus should be completed in approximately 3 months."

"I look forward to it, sir." Genta replied with a smile. "And, once again, thank you for the opportunity."

"You're welcome." Polyokov straightened his dress uniform and led Genta back out to the presidio and to the company of his friends.

* * *

-July 11, 2383, Venusian Shipyard-

A lone shuttlecraft made its way through the many construction sites suspended in the black void over the second planet from the sun. Starships of all shapes and sizes were constructed at the Venusian shipyards. It was one of the League's most important resources.

Inside the shuttle, Genta adjusted the collar of his new captain's uniform. He and Seria had been unceremoniously awoken in the night in the middle of their honeymoon by its delivery, and he had given it a drowsy once-over, then put it in a corner to forget about until he was back on duty. Looking at it now, it was an interesting look. The jacket still retained the black and white colour scheme of his original duty uniform, as was the red undershirt, but the pattern had been changed to make it primarily white with some black vertical stripes interspersed. Not only that, but a golden stripe had been added that stretched from his lower left shoulder to his lower right. He assumed it was to make his rank apparent. Unusually, the only thing missing from the uniform was the gold-buckled belt he had seen Hawthorn wear on the Venture.

"Don't worry, it looks good on you." Seria grinned at him, straightening the jacket of her own uniform. As his new first officer, she sported the rank pips of a commander well. Like him, she had a red undershirt visible through her jacket's collar. Her eyes darted to the primary viewport, and she gasped in surprise.

"Gelegeth…it's incredible!" she said, obviously both surprised and captivated. Genta followed her gaze and found himself staring at the L.E.S. Cygnus in dry-dock.

The vessel was a streamlined craft, an oblong shape with two v-shaped wings close to the rear, from the ends of which hung two powerful-looking cannons. At the rear of the ship blazed a mighty engine, the blue ambient light it emitted illuminating the support columns of dry-dock. As they flew closer, the aft shuttle bay opened and the miniature craft guided itself into the large bay. Genta spotted at least seven other shuttles, their nameplates blank, and the registry number of the Cygnus, LC-31842, painted on the side in black.

With a hiss, the shuttle door opened, and the compliment of crewmen that had been escorting the two disembarked. Genta cast a cautious look at Seria, who returned it with a reassuring expression. Swallowing his pride, Genta headed for the door, and was surprised when he was greeted by Admiral Tolith, a large, bulky officer who belonged to a series of chlorophyll-based life-forms. He much preferred that term for his people, as he considered "talking plant" a racial slur.

"Captain Ryutaro, Commander Gulan." Tolith said, extending a twig-fingered hand for Genta to shake. "I have to say, I'm jealous."

"Jealous, sir?" Genta took the hand and shook it gently.

"I have sixteen commands under my belt, but none of them were anything like Cygnus." Tolith gave Genta a wooden smile, and turned to shake Seria's hand. "If you two will follow me." He turned to the accompanying party of crewmen. "As you were."

Genta and Seria kept two steps behind Tolith, who led them out of the shuttlebay and into a brightly lit hallway. Crewmen momentarily stood up as the trio passed by, then returned to their work rerouting power conduits or whatever else they were working on.

"There's still some work to be done, but I think you'll be satisfied with the results." Tolith spoke as he walked. "Cygnus may not be as large as a Nebula-class vessel, but she does have all the new toys."

"Yocto-fibre circuitry, artron anti-entropic shielding, acute nano-sensors" Seria spoke us as they approached an elevator "equipped with a hyper-phasic power core."

"You've been doing your research." Tolith observed. "Deck 3, bridge."

"I've been buried in Cygnus' schematics for the past couple of weeks." Seria replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if I knew more about it than our new chief engineer."

"Just wait. There are more surprises." The elevator door slid open with a soft "swish", and the group stepped out onto the bridge, Tolith calling out "Captain on the bridge." At once, every crewman on the bridge stopped what they were doing and stood up, turning to face the captain.

"As you were." Genta nodded, not wanting to feel the weight of at least twenty pairs of eyes on him. As everyone went back to work, Genta gazed around the bridge. It had something of a nostalgic feel to it, mostly because it resembled the layout of the Venture's bridge. The captain's navy blue leather chair was in the dead centre of the room, two smaller seats on either side of it, where Seria would sit. A single computer panel stretched across a large part of the rear wall, where two alcoves for officers stood. They were more closed in than the ones on the Venture. When he looked inside, however, he saw that the whole inner section was lined with computers. It was an interesting addition, to say the least.

"Specialised work stations." Tolith explained. "Tactical systems and sensors. We've installed it for the helm, too." Certainly enough, in front of the main viewscreen, two round alcoves stood, chairs raised to ground level.

"There's more to show you." Tolith gestured to a door on the right hand side of the bridge. Genta and Seria followed the gesture and approached the door, which opened to reveal a comfortable-looking office.

The captain's ready room.

"It's a little sparse on decorations." Genta noted as he looked around. The walls were the same shade of silvery grey as the rest of the ship's rooms. There was no sign of any paintings, or fish tanks, or even a simple potted plant. Just a silver briefcase on his new work desk, and a perfectly square table in front of a plain grey couch. Fortunately, there was a replicator within arm's reach of his desk.

"It's designed to be as efficient as possible." Tolith said, gazing round the room apathetically.

"Still," Seria sighed "it lacks character. Remember Hawthorn's ready room, Genta?"

"Oh, yes." Genta grinned, remembering the Gravochi bonsai Hawthorn had kept. Once, he had neglected to prune it, and the fast-growing plant had filled the entire office in the space of hours.

"You're free to add any decorations you wish," Tolith added "but they'll come out of your salary. Speaking of additions…" he added, heading behind the desk and opening the briefcase.

"What is that?" Genta asked.

"We've installed a new piece of technology that we're thinking of implementing throughout the fleet." Tolith swivelled the briefcase around so that Genta was able to see the inside. Surrounded by a layer of black foam was a silver machine. It was oblong in shape, with a glossy black handle jutting out of the left side. In the upper right corner was a red stripe, the edges highlighted in black. Underneath it was the emblem of the League of Planets, or the "Circle and Arrow" as it had come to be known.

"It's called the Fleet Driver." Tolith explained. "It's a portable armour and weapons generator designed for combat. We based it on schematics of a machine found in the database of one of Earth's old space programs."

Genta reached for the Driver, picking it up.

"It's lighter than I expected." He admitted as he turned the machine over in his hands.

"It's made of the same polytrinic alloy we use for the EV suits." Tolith replied. "So it's very durable. Try it on."

"Try it…"

"It goes around your waist."

Genta raised a questioning eyebrow, and held the Driver to his waist. Instantly, a black band shot out of the left side and looped around his waist, connecting to the right side of the Driver.

"How does it work?" he asked.

"There are a series of micro-replicators integrated into the circuitry that generate the armour and weapons." Tolith replied. "It's coded to your biological signature. Only you can use it."

"Good to know." Genta nodded, looking for a way to get the belt off him.

"Keep it on." Tolith said. "It makes a nice belt."

Genta shrugged and followed Tolith out of the ready room.

"You'll have to complete the tour on your own, I'm afraid." The plant-like Admiral said. "I'm needed at the Mercury mines." He gave Genta a quick salute. "The ship is yours, Captain Ryutaro." The Admiral turned and entered the elevator. Genta waited until the door closed before he took Seria's outstretched hand.

"Well, then." He smiled. "Let's complete our tour."

* * *

As they continued their tour, Genta was pleasantly surprised by the features of Cygnus. The medical bay was outfitted with a database of over seven million different procedures, as well as the new bio-beds and function monitors, the astrometrics lab incorporated stellar cartographic data from both League and non-League civilisations, and Seria was positively ecstatic when they reached engineering. As it turned out, the vessel's engines were powered by the new type-15 warp ring, which, according to Seria, had "A thessalite core, auxiliary filters, and a quinto-cyclic manifold."

It didn't make much sense to Genta, but at least Seria was happy. Their tour completed, they returned to the bridge, where the temporary crew had taken stations. Genta noticed that the chairs of the helms had actually sunk into the ground.

"Alright," Genta began, taking his seat. "Our first mission is to get this vessel to Pisces Station to pick up the rest of the crew, and finish whatever maintenance may be necessary. Helm," he made sure he was comfortable in the chair before continuing.

"Take us out, straight and steady."

The machines and holds of dry-dock soon disappeared from view as the L.E.S. Cygnus moved forward, away from the construction site above Venus and into the reaches of open space.


	3. Forced Halt

Genta loved the sound of the engines humming faintly as the Cygnus moved forward. That was the sound that powered the League. Space travel was one of the greatest privileges in Genta's life, and he was certainly thankful for it.

"Sir, we're clear of the shipyards." One of the helmsmen, a humanoid with pointed ears and mottled green skin, said. "Should we go to warp?"

Genta tapped one of the status monitors on his chair's arm. "Ryutaro to engineering, how's our warp ring looking?"

"She's running smoothly, sir." The harsh clicks of the insectoid chief engineer's voice were still distinguishable behind the vocoder it used to talk.

"Very well." Genta closed the channel. "Helm, lay in a course for Pisces Station. Warp four."

"Aye, sir." The helm got to work, and within seconds, the stars seemed to stretch as they achieved a faster than light speed. "We'll reach Pisces Station in about two hours."

"Good." Genta stood up and headed to the ready room door. "Inform me when we arrive."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

The door to Genta's ready room closed itself as Genta sat down and took in the surroundings. This was his space now. It was his ship, too. That was incredible.

He tapped the small screen of his desk's computer, and the message "commence log recording" appeared. Genta relaxed and began speaking to the open air.

"Captain's log, July 11, 2383. The Cygnus has begun its voyage into open space. Our first port of call is to Pisces Station in the Bellatrix sector, where we'll pick up our permanent crew and finish repairs before we head into the deeper sectors. As we begin our mission, I find that I'm still getting used to the idea of my own command. It's a little daunting, I have to admit. I only hope I can live up to the expectations League Command have placed on me. End log entry."

The computer complied, and Genta was left in the near-silent atmosphere of the ready room, to contemplate his position. The weight of command hadn't fully set in yet. For a moment, he almost expected Hawthorn to walk through the door and ask for him to vacate the captain's chair. Yet, he knew that would never happen. He was in Hawthorn's position now.

As he let out a deep sigh, the ship shuddered beneath his feet, shaking him back to attention. He stood and strode back onto the bridge and took his seat again.

"Report." He said after a moment.

"We just dropped out of warp." The helm replied, observing the panels around him with four eager eyes.

"There's a vessel off our port bow." The temporary sensors officer declared. "It's within visual range."

"Put it on screen." Genta commanded. The viewscreen flickered for a second, and the image of a vessel appeared. The entire ship seemed to be sloped downwards, large metal spikes hanging off the underside. A single red circle on the fore of the ship, which Genta deduced was a deflector dish, glared at the Cygnus like an angry eye. Behind it, Genta could make out a smoke trail.

"Pirates." Seria noted, observing the craft through blue eyes.

"We're being hailed." The helm said.

"On screen." Genta said again. The ship vanished, and a familiar face sneered at him. Two clawed hands, sharp, deadly looking pincers over his mouth, shiny black chitinous skin, and four menacing green eyes.

"Oh no." Genta put a hand to his forehead. "It's Velgoth."

"Bo'sh Mahat, Ryutaro!" The Vendrilar space pirate roared in a spiteful greeting. "You sit in the captain's chair now? It doesn't suit you!"

Genta forced out a laugh. "You can talk. Didn't I blow up your ship the last time you tangled with the Venture?"

"This ship is not the Venture, and Hawthorn is not here to save you!" Velgoth sneered. "Your destruction of my wonderful Kusholeth broke my heart, and I have returned to avenge myself upon Hawthorn and his pitiful crew!"

"Too bad, Velgoth. You've got us." Genta shrugged simply.

"Indeed! And I shall test my new ship's firepower on you and your pitiful vessel!" The channel closed, and the bridge was left in silence.

"They're charging weapons." The tactical officer declared.

"Raise shields and go to red alert." Genta commanded. "I don't want Velgoth to damage this ship."

The ship rocked as what Genta assumed was a photonic blast struck the shields. He felt himself thrown sideways, and his arm collided with Seria's.

"They just struck us with some kind of pulse." The tactical officer said. "Shields are failing."

"A warp field inhibitor and...whatever it was we were hit with." Genta noted. "He's been refining his tactics."

"There's nothing refined about Velgoth." Seria replied. "How soon can we get the shields back up?"

"Not for a while." Came the tactical officer's reply. "Whatever they hit us with disabled our shield matrix."

Thinking quickly, Seria opened a comm channel. "Gulan to engineering, report."

The tone of the chief engineer didn't change, thanks to the vocoder, but the shrillness of its insectoid clicks were obviously strained and anxious. "The primary shield matrix is fused and we can't bring the secondary matrix online!"

"Reroute power from auxiliary controls. Take whatever you need to offline." Seria replied, trying to keep her voice level. "Then disengage the integral couplings to avoid an overload."

"Understood." The engineer replied as the channel closed.

"Captain!" the tactical officer declared. "I've detected a boarding party on deck 7, consisting of five Vendrilar and an unidentified life-form. I'll dispatch a security team to deal with them."

"Belay that." Genta looked down to his waist. The Fleet Driver was still wrapped around his torso. He recalled that Admiral Tolith said that it was designed for combat. This was as good a time as any to test it out.

"I'll deal with them." He said, heading for the elevator.

"Sir…" the tactical officer began to protest.

"I know what I'm doing." Genta replied. "I think. Try and get a lock on them while I'm down there, and see if you can beam them back to their ship." He stepped into the elevator and gave it the command to head to deck 7. As it descended, he ran his thumb over the handle of the Fleet Driver, thinking about the upcoming conflict. He knew Velgoth was out for blood. The last time they had come into conflict with each other, he and a group of other crewmen had been captured and held on his old ship, the Kusholeth. Hawthorn had beaten the pirate by rigging his ship to explode in order to force the Vendrilar to return the crew to the Venture. Once he was back on board, the captain had supposedly forgotten to disable the explosives, and the ship had gone up in flames. Velgoth had survived, however, and had no doubt sworn vengeance upon the crew of the Venture.

The elevator door swished open, and Genta found himself positioned behind the boarding party. He was easily able to identify the Vendrilar by the fact that they were carrying the largest weapons. The other life-form shook Genta to his core. It resembled the cybernetically enhanced creatures he had encountered before the Venture was destroyed. This time, however, it was more like the Vendrilar, a scorpion-like creature with powerful-looking steel claws, and one half of its face covered in mechanical parts.

Genta took only one step out of the elevator, when the entire boarding party turned to face him. He had expected that. Vendrilar hearing was incredibly acute, after all. What he didn't expect was to be staring into the eyes of Velgoth himself. The pirate grinned at him sinisterly.

"Ah, Commander Ryutaro!" he jeered. "Do you like our new weapon?" he asked, gesturing to the creature that accompanied them. "Courtesy of the Nishian Masked Lords!"

"You've had contact with the Masked Lords?" Genta questioned, not noticing that he was being referred to by his former rank.

"They promised that I could conquer my enemies and plunder their ships if I used it!" Velgoth cheered. "So I will use this Augment until I end you and all those who wrong me!"

"You're welcome to try, but I will stop you." Genta replied sternly. "Computer, activate the Fleet Driver. Authorisation Ryutaro one-four-eight Gamma Red, clearance level ten."

"Fleet Driver online. Specify code phrase." The monotone computer voice replied. Genta took a deep breath and grasped the handle of the belt.

"Henshin."

With that phrase, he slammed the handle into the side of the Driver, which lit up.

"Code phrase confirmed. Beginning sequence alpha." The computer replied. Blue light surrounded Genta's form, as hundreds of armour segments materialised over his uniform. Connections were made and fabric stretched between the plating. The final part of the armour to materialise was the helmet, which snapped cleanly over Genta's head, perfectly enclosing it. Genta's vision was momentarily obscured by the helmet, but soon, he saw the world through red compound eyes.

The armour itself resembled Genta's uniform, just with more armoured plating on the upper torso, arms and legs. The armour gleamed underneath the glare of the hallway lights. The helmet was shaped as if it were one of Earth's old rocket ships, and the red eyes glared at the enemy.

Velgoth snorted at Genta. "Pfah! Armour cannot stop my Augment! It will tear you limb from limb!" He pointed forward, and the Augment skittered forwards, raising a powerful looking claw. Genta lifted his own arms and crossed them over his head in an attempt to block the strike. Much to his surprise, a blue web of energy appeared over his arms at the exact moment the claw was brought down. It bounced off his arms and the Augment reeled back.

"Shields at 97%." The voice of the ship's computer in Genta's ear surprised him.

"Shields?" he asked as the Augment readied itself for another attack.

"The Fleet Driver Armour Cygnus Command Variant is equipped with a micro-shield generator powered by a hyper-impulse energy source." The computer replied as Genta stepped to the side, avoiding the Augment's attack and delivering a punch of his own, making the Augment skid backwards.

"That's going to be useful." Genta observed as the Vendrilar boarding party aimed their weapons at him and fired. Their blasts hit the shields and Genta simply shrugged it off, going instead for another punch at the Augment. His blow collided and the Augment let out a shrill cry, attacking again. Genta put his combat training to use and grabbed the claw, pushing back and quickly striking the Augment's torso again and again. He could tell Velgoth was getting impatient. The pirate was grinding his pincers together and glaring daggers at Genta. Genta, however, didn't care much, and just kept attacking the Augment, landing punches on the mechanical parts as well as the organic segments. The Augment hissed and backed away slowly, a few sparks flying from its mechanical segments.

"Computer, can I deploy a weapon?" Genta asked the computer, putting a little more distance between himself and his enemies.

"Select a weapon from the options presented on the Driver's touchpad." The computer replied.

"Touchpad?" Genta looked down at the Driver. Indeed, there was a glossy black pad right next to the handle. Cautiously, he lowered his hand to the belt and pressed his finger on part of the pad.

"Stasis Pistol." The voice of the computer wasn't just in Genta's ear now. It could be heard all through the hallway. Genta was even more shocked as the weapon suddenly materialised in his hand.

"That I wasn't expecting." Genta muttered to himself, raising the weapon and firing on the Vendrilar pirates. Four of them went down with blasts of blue electricity, but Velgoth hissed and beamed himself away with a flash of red. Only the Augment remained standing, and it didn't seem to be in good shape.

"The Augment has been sufficiently weakened to deploy the finishing move." The computer said to Genta.

"Right." Genta pressed the lower end of the Stasis Pistol to the top of the Driver. Blue lightning flowed from the belt to the weapon as Genta took aim at the Augment. A blue holographic targeting reticule formed over his right eye. Genta pressed a finger against the trigger and a large bolt of energy surged out of the end and struck the Augment in the head. It let out one last cry of defeat, and exploded as Genta dismissed the armour and returned to his regular attire. Mere seconds later, the fire suppression system was activated, drenching Genta and extinguishing the flames.

* * *

The captain made a last minute effort to shake any water off of him as he reached the bridge. As the elevator door opened, he made himself presentable and walked towards his seat. As he moved, Seria got up and moved back to the first officer's seat.

"Report." He said, sitting down and straightening his uniform.

"We've brought our shields back online, but we still can't go to warp." Seria replied. "What's our course of action?"

"That depends." Genta said. "What's our weapons compliment?"

"Two photon burst cannons, two fore photon beam strips, two aft photon beam strips, four chroniton torpedoes, and two guided graviton charges." The tactical officer read off a computer display.

"That's quite light for a ship this size."

Genta thought for a moment. If Velgoth did have a warp field inhibitor on board, he would have to place a device that large in a part of the ship with a lot of space.

"Set a graviton charge to target engineering, and launch on my command." He said.

The tactical officer got to work, tapping commands into a console. "Graviton charge armed, and co-ordinates locked."

Genta brought two fingers forward, pointing at the image of Velgoth's ship. "Fire."

From one of the forward torpedo bays flew a circular object. It zipped towards Velgoth's ship and attached itself to the side. A few seconds later, an explosion erupted from the vessel's side, and two devices were launched free. One of them was the ship's warp ring, and the other exploded in space.

"Captain, we can go to warp!" the helm said, turning to Genta.

Genta nodded. "Pisces Station, maximum warp!"

Once again, the stars stretched around the Cygnus as it left its enemy behind.

* * *

"Captain's log, addendum, July 11, 2383. The Vendrilar space pirate known as Velgoth is, or has been, in the employ of the Nishians. How else was he able to acquire one of those Augments? As we head to Pisces Station, I have to wonder whether the Nishians will continue to use proxy agents or just attack us outright. Either way, this battle's not over yet."

Genta slowly turned the Fleet Driver over in his hands. He had witnessed first-hand the incredible power it possessed. It was like nothing he had ever felt before, and considering his record of dealing with the unknown on both the Hartnell and the Venture, he appreciated the gravity of that statement. For a moment, he thought about contacting Hawthorn and telling him about the belt, but he decided against it. Hawthorn was probably light years away on an important mission, not to mention he didn't like to be bothered unnecessarily.

As he felt the ship slow down, he knew that the Cygnus was pulling in to dock at Pisces Station. He fastened the belt around his waist again and walked out of his ready room. It was time for him to meet his new crew.


	4. Respite

"Captain's log, July 13, 2383. Repairs to the Cygnus are almost complete, and I've just been given my crew manifest. We'll be here for another couple of days, so I intend to use that time to good effect."

Genta sat alone in his and Seria's temporary accommodation on Pisces Station, his eyes directed at a datapad. He flicked through service record after service record, examining the crew he was about to take on.

The portraits of the various species that comprised the Cygnus' permanent crew stared up at him through expressionless eyes of different shapes and sizes. From the look of the manifest, this was going to be the most racially diverse crew Genta had ever been part of. Less than 10% of the crew were human. Not that it bugged him, of course. He, like practically every League citizen, had been taught to be accepting of every species in the galaxy.

He placed the datapad on the bed and rubbed his eyes. He could feel a wave of sleep washing over him, yet he didn't fall asleep.

"Computer, what's the time?" he asked to the room in particular.

"The time is 2500 hours and 19 seconds." The computer replied.

It's not even been a whole day yet, Genta thought to himself. Pisces Station orbited the planet of Fandar-6, a planet with a thirty-one hour day. The human crew stationed on the construct had tried to adapt to the altered solar cycles, but they usually gave up and turned in at 2300 hours anyway.

Genta couldn't help but wonder when Seria was going to come back. She had gone to meet with relatives on the planet. He had been forced to decline, however, due to an inordinate amount of paperwork. It made him pine for a return to his old position as first officer. He was able to get away with quite a bit more.

The buzzing of his quarters' door chime made Genta spring to his feet. He adjusted his uniform and slapped his face twice.

"Come in."

The door opened and Seria ran in, engulfing Genta in a hug. He returned the hug with equal enthusiasm, and stopped himself from falling back onto the bed.

"I've missed you." Genta smiled, unlocking himself from their hug and sitting on the bed.

"And I, you." Seria sat next to him, wrapping her hands around his.

"How were the folks?"

Seria rolled her eyes. "Highly critical. My aunts were not very receptive of the fact that I married a human."

Genta frowned at that. "Not very approving, I take it."

"Not approving in the slightest." Seria nodded. "My sisters, however, were far more accepting of my position.

"I'm sure they were." Genta relaxed. Seria's sisters, Bescha, Chami and Ahron were friends of his. He didn't like to admit it, but he had once tried to seduce Chami while under the influence of what he affectionately called a "space goldfish", but was actually a mental symbiote that influenced their hosts' pheromone levels.

"It is of no concern." Seria shook her head. "I'm just happy I got to return to you."

"So am I." Genta leaned in to kiss Seria, who returned the display of affection.

* * *

Late night shifts on Pisces Station were often long, unremarkable, and downright boring. The most remarkable thing that seemed to happen was that the external sensors went out of alignment every time the station's chronometer reset at the start of the day. As usual, the task of fixing the misalignment fell to Shebek Keheled, Crewman First Class. He was usually assigned to the night shifts, mainly because his species, the Phorikan, were nocturnal by nature.

Keheled had performed this repair at least a hundred times since his posting to the station. It was quite easy: Go in through the maintenance shaft, take the sensor grid offline, redistribute the energy cards and reactivate.

Getting shot from behind, however? Not exactly part of the routine.

As the Phorikan crewman slumped to the ground, his back smoking from where the blaster had left its mark, a figure dressed entirely in black stepped over his corpse and accessed the sensor grid control panel, deactivating it.

* * *

Genta had awoken to bad news. Not a good start to the day. He and Seria had been ordered by a surly Administrator Dakarth to report to the medical bay. The two had complied, and found themselves examining the body of a Phorikan technician.

"Who are we looking at?" Genta asked.

"Shebek Keheled, Crewman First Class." The attending Reptilon doctor replied. "As you can see, he's dead."

"I recognise him." Seria mused, leaning in closer to observe the Phorikan's bat-like face.

"According to his file, he served for two years on the Venture III." Administrator Dakarth said, gazing at the assembled group down his slender beak. "He was transferred here after serving on board the Roddenberry."

"I also recognise you." Genta spoke up, addressing the doctor. "You're on my crew manifest."

"Lieutenant Commander Makcu R'lehat, sir." The doctor nodded. "I believe I'm your chief medical officer."

"How did he die, doctor?" Dakarth asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

"Shot in the back with some kind of energy weapon." Doctor Makcu said, gripping a medical scanner in his reptilian hands and running it over the deceased crewman's body. "Weapons analysis suggests he might have been hit with a Spiral Wave bolt."

Genta turned to the administrator, looking very concerned. Spiral Wave weapons were very powerful. One bolt could cut through a plate of duratanium or break open even the most secure of locks. They were difficult to identify as well, as the energy trace of one evaporated almost immediately after firing. They were a type of weapon highly favoured by assassins.

"If that's the case, how were you able to identify the weapon?"

"He left his scanner on, and it picked up the energy trace when he died." Makcu explained. "It's on the table in my superior's office. You can check for yourself."

Genta did so, and picked up the still-activated scanner. He looked intently at the reading, as if checking for any evidence that may repute the Spiral Wave theory. He found no such thing. It was all there. A Spiral Wave weapon had indeed been fired.

"Will that be all, administrator?" he asked, placing the scanner gently back on the table.

"Not quite." Dakarth said solemnly. "You see, when we found Keheled, we discovered that whoever shot him also deactivated our sensor grid and external communications."

"Have you brought them back online?" Seria asked.

"Not yet. Our engineering teams have been locked out of the system." Dakarth shook his head. "In my experience, a loss of communications and sensors eventually leads to invasion."

Genta tilted his head curiously. "Invasion? Why would Pisces Station be a target for an invasion? We're right in the middle of League space."

"Our experimental weapons division would present quite an appeasing target." Dakarth speculated. "The way I see it, we're a sitting duck and we can't call for help. If that's not the precursor to an attack, then I don't know what is."

* * *

Pisces Station served two purposes. The first being a place of respite for the crews of the ships of the line, where they could go and get their ships' supplies and weapons restocked. The other directive was a lot more secretive. The lower levels of Pisces Station were home to a research facility where prototype weapons were developed and tested. Their latest project was a new kind of mobile assault vehicle designed to be used exclusively by holders of a Fleet Driver, the development of which was kept under tight wraps.

The weapons facility's security was among the best in the League, but it was unable to detect a forced intrusion into the system at exactly 1452 hours, station time. Nor did it put up much of a resistance when a highly encrypted data packet was copied.

The same person who had killed Shebek Keheled slipped with fluid motion into a maintenance shaft after carefully resetting everything to make sure no-one suspected anything had been taken.

* * *

"Captain's log, July 14, 2383. Pisces Station has gone to yellow alert. The administrator thinks we're going to be attacked, and a part of me thinks he's right. I've been ordered to get my new crew on board the Cygnus, in case anything does try to attack us. The heads of department are gathering in the briefing room."

Genta's new senior staff were seated around the briefing room table. In front of several of them were mugs containing a wide variety of beverages. That was forgivable. It was quite early in the morning, after all.

Of course, Seria had taken the seat directly beside his. As he entered the room, she seemed to be deep in conversation with what appeared to be a green-skinned humanoid with a mechanical eye and arm. According to the crew manifest, this was Ensign Tarvos Ai, the Hainish chief engineer. As he took his seat, he could make out a few words and phrases he recognised, such as "thessalite" and "gravimetric tetryon field regulators". Of course, when he had finally taken his seat, the conversations stopped and all eyes turned to him.

Genta cleared his throat before he began. "Yesterday, Pisces Station's sensor grid and external communications were disabled by an unknown assailant, and just hours ago, I was told that a forced entry into the station's secure databanks took place. Administrator Dakarth thinks that this is a precursor to an invasion. I, personally, don't believe that to be the case. Nevertheless, I want this crew to remain on standby in the event we are attacked."

"Captain," The tinny, vocoded voice of the Cygnus' Korinan science officer, Lieutenant Lem Kimoth, spoke up, "do you have any idea what kind of data was taken?"

Genta was about to reply, but found himself interrupted by Lieutenant Brocath Chian Mors, a burly Calian with four incredibly bulky arms, no doubt due to the fact that Calians possessed almost three times the number of muscles present in a human, a crazy hairstyle, and the necessary qualifications to make him chief tactical officer.

"It's a prototype mid-range combat craft called the Machine Enterprise, designed for both ground and space combat. The prototype has been moved to our shuttlebay."

"Why ours?" Kimoth pressed.

"It was designed to work exclusively with the Fleet Driver," Mors replied "and this is the only ship in service whose captain carries a Fleet Driver."

"I'll inspect this craft later today." Genta nodded. "For now, our orders are to monitor this region for any communications that may suggest an attack is imminent. Ensign Giyatt, I'll need you to keep subspace channels open."

"Aye, captain." Ensign Kateln Giyatt gave a brief salute, her stone-skinned arm raising to just above her eye.

"Hopefully, this situation will blow over by tomorrow at the latest." Genta placed both hands on the table. "Dismissed." The senior staff began to leave the briefing room, to return to their stations. Genta was the last one to leave, taking his position in the captain's chair. He fixed the viewscreen with a determined look and waited…

And waited…and waited…and continued to wait.

Genta could already feel himself growing drowsy. They had been monitoring nearby space for at least fourteen hours straight, and there was no sign of any invasion force. Not even a single maintenance shuttle.

"Anything on sensors?" he asked for what felt like the five hundredth time.

"Nothing, sir." Ensign Quinn Babylon, their human sensors operator, replied. "Wait, I'm picking up a vessel on our port bow."

"What kind of vessel?"

"It looks like a shuttle of some kind." Ensign Babylon observed. "I'm detecting several weapons." He looked up from his alcove. "It's carrying Spiral Wave cannons. No-one's on board, though."

"It must be controlled by computer." Genta blinked drowsily. "Scan for a modular control unit."

"Aye, sir." Ensign Babylon returned his eyes to the monitors and prepared the scan.

On the Cygnus's exterior, the deflector glowed a radiant blue colour as it performed a sweep of the area. Though it didn't find what it was looking for, it picked up another signal. One that almost certainly didn't belong.

"I'm detecting a homing beacon." Babylon said as he filtered any ambient radiation and anomalous readings. "It's coming from Pisces Station."

"Where in Pisces Station?" Seria asked.

"Docking bay four."

Genta stood and headed for the elevator. "I'm heading for docking bay four. If our saboteur's down there, I'll stop him. Seria, you have the bridge."

"Genta, wait!" Seria protested as the doors closed. She sighed and moved over to the captain's chair.

* * *

Genta stepped confidently into the transporter room, priming the Fleet Driver. He stepped onto the transporter pad and told the transporter chief "Send me to Pisces Station, docking bay four."

"Understood, sir." The chief began laying in the transport co-ordinates as Genta clicked the Driver's handle into place. The chief waited until the armour was fully formed before transporting the captain to the docking bay, and Genta disappeared in a flash of yellow light, only to reappear in the wide, open space of docking bay four.

Genta scanned the docking bay for any suspicious activity. So far, it seemed empty. Crates of spare parts lay grouped together, unattended, and shuttlecrafts sat pilotless, providing an excellent form of cover to anyone who might want to hide. Genta reached a finger down to the Fleet Driver and pressed one of the sections of the touchpad.

"Personnel scanner." The computer voice spoke and a grey plastic machine appeared in Genta's hand. The captain reached opened the scanner and moved it around in front of him. It bleeped, indicating that it had detected life.

"Two life-forms detected."

"Computer, where are they?" Genta asked.

"One is seven metres to the right and is attempting to access classified documents. The other is three metres above us and closing."

"Wait, did you say "and closing"?"

Genta immediately felt a powerful blow to the back of his head and he fell to the floor, the scanner tumbling out of his hand and disappearing. He barely had time to react before a second blow sent him hurtling across the docking bay and colliding with a set of crates. He staggered up to his feet to stare his attacker down. He found himself facing a powerfully-built, grey humanoid, with tiny green eyes and a head of ten threatening horns. As Genta watched, what appeared to be green light pulsed through the creature's body, illuminating its circulatory system. Its lower torso and legs had been replaced entirely with bulky, mechanical limbs, and on its chest was a hexagonal device that pulsed with a sickly green light.

"An Augment." Genta observed. "Computer, identify species of Augment."

"Unable to comply." The computer replied. "The Augment cannot be identified without proper scanning equipment."

As if on cue, the Augment charged forward, its metal legs clanking as it moved. Genta's hand flashed to the touchpad of the Fleet Driver, pressing one of the segments.

"Bexarite Crystal Sword." The computer said, conjuring up a slender silver blade attached to a dusty-gold hilt. Genta raised the newly formed weapon and parried against the horns of the Augment. The beast growled and pushed forwards with what seemed like the force of a stun blaster. The sword didn't break or yield, however.

Genta felt a powerful hand ram itself into his stomach and he doubled over, dropping the sword. The Augment lowered its head and closed the short distance between itself and Genta, who went flying into the far wall and landing on the ground. He struggled upwards, using the shuttlecraft wall for support.

"Captain, this is Mors." The deep voice of the chief tactical officer spoke in Genta's ear.

"Go ahead, lieutenant." Genta gasped, shaking his head to clear it.

"Captain, I've identified a weak point on the Augment."

"How do you know I'm fighting an Augment?" Genta asked, nervously watching the Augment circle him.

"I'm getting a visual feed from your helmet." Mors replied. "But that's beside the point. You need to attack the device on its torso. It'll disrupt the mechanical parts."

"Got it." Genta nodded, priming himself as the Augment charged again. Thinking quickly, Genta pressed his hand to the top of the Driver. As blue energy surged around his hand, which he clenched into a fist, he charged at the Augment. Before the large set of horns could make contact with his body, Genta leaned backwards and thrust his fist upwards. His attack made contact with the device, which shattered. The metal legs exploded violently and the upper body fell on him. It was quite a heavy creature, and Genta had trouble shifting it off. He stood up and shook himself down. It had been quite a fight.

He summoned the scanner again and ran it up and down the former Augment's torso. According to the scans, it had been a Lethenian Traph, an endangered predatory species. He turned to scan the rest of the shuttlebay. There was no sign of the other person, yet the homing beacon was still active.

"Ryutaro to Cygnus," Ryutaro lifted a hand to his ear. "Is the shuttle we detected still around?"

"Aye, sir." Ensign Babylon replied. "We're detecting a life-form aboard. Hainish, by the looks of it."

"Hail them and beam me and the remains of the Augment back." Genta said.

"Stand by." Babylon finished, cutting the channel.

Genta remained still until the transport process finished. Once he was on board, he left the Augment's body to be examined by a science team and took an elevator to the bridge. He sat down, still armoured, and said "Report."

"The shuttle hasn't moved." Giyatt said. "It appears to be transmitting an encrypted message."

"Intercept and decrypt it." Genta commanded.

The stone-skinned ensign's fingers moved deftly across the panels in her alcove. "I've intercepted the transmission, but it'll take at least four hours to decrypt."

"Get to it."

"Sir, the shuttle is heading away from the station." Mors spoke up. "Should we fire on it?"

Genta shook his head. "Hail them first."

Ensign Giyatt pressed a few buttons and sent a hailing signal. Moments later, they got one back.

"They're responding." She said. "Audio only."

"On speakers." Genta replied. Giyatt complied, and broadcast the message through the speakers.

"Crew of the starship Cygnus," a highly synthesised voice rang through the bridge "earlier today, I took a high-security data packet from your computers. We intend to decrypt it and use it against you. Be warned, League. Your time will come. The Order will have its day."

"Sir, the shuttle's going to warp." Mors said sternly.

"That's not possible." Seria noted. "No ship that small has a warp drive."

Mors chose that particular moment to shout an expletive in the Calian tongue and slam one of his many fists onto the tactical console. "It's gone!"

"Did you make a note of its course?" Genta asked, turning to Mors.

"Yes, sir." Mors nodded. "Should we pursue?"

Genta shook his head. "No. Inform the administrator and contact League Intelligence. I'd like to know what kind of order uses Spiral Wave weapons and can outfit their shuttles with warp drive."

* * *

One day later, the Cygnus departed Pisces Station with a full crew compliment, completely stocked with weapons and supplies, and was headed for the further regions of League space. Seria was spending a lot of time in engineering, mostly assisting some of the more inexperienced crewmen.

Unfortunately, League Intelligence had not responded to the Cygnus' attempt to request information. Of course, both Genta and Seria had expected Intelligence to be reluctant about sharing the secrets they had collected over the several centuries the League had been around.

Nonetheless, the Cygnus' first proper mission had been delivered, and they were to head to the Euron system to put the deep space cruiser through its paces. Genta was beginning to feel reluctant about assuming command, especially after hearing the decrypted transmission the mysterious shuttle had made.

"This is Jourek. I'm transmitting the classified League data. It should have the locations of the Ureth in nearby sectors. The time of emergence is near. The destroyer will return."

Genta was a practical man, yet the talk of destroyers and the time of emergence made him feel a little threatened. The worst part was he didn't know why.


End file.
